If perhaps SNL seemed to be sleeping on the job with its two-hosts-per-month in 2017, they had good reason. Not only have the final four hosts been announced, including Jimmy Fallon, Melissa McCarthy and The Rock, but shows will air live across the country for the first time in history.
The rumors are true: SNL is taking Weekend Update out for a primetime spin once more. Seeing as today’s news is never not in need of incisive comedy, Colin Jost and Michael Che will end their summer breaks early to bring new half-hour Weekend Update episodes to NBC.
SNL has been piecemealing through 2017 with two shows a month, and our first April show is now confirmed to follow Scarlett Johansson. Comedian Louis C.K. will return to SNL for the first April 2017 show, joined by a first-time musical guest.
It was around the time that SNL favorites Taran Killam and Jay Pharoah confirmed new Showtime series, that we learned the pair hadn’t been invited back for Season 42. In Pharoah’s case, at least, the Jamie Foxx-produced White Famous was picked up to series, though Showtime now confirms Taran Killam’s dating scene comedy Mating wasn’t so fortunate.
This coming Saturday will mark Scarlett Johansson’s fifth SNL hosting, enough that you’d think the Ghost in the Shell star had it down by now. Not so, according to her first 2017 promos, as Johansson undergoes rigorous training, while another cast member makes their return.
SNL’s schedule has been on and off this year, airing only two episodes each month, though fans might have noticed young star Pete Davidson notably absent in recent weeks. Davidson’s social media had also been threadbare before today, wherein the comedian announced he’d taken time off to concentrate on a newfound sobriety.
In the election’s immediate aftermath, we had to wonder if Alec Baldwin had the SNL commitment to keep playing Trump as necessary for such a weekly target. Baldwin’s been a sport since November, even pivoting the impression into other mediums, but may hang up the wig before long . “I don’t [know] how much more people can take it.”
SNL didn’t quite have its ducks in a row with the announcement that Hidden Figures star Octavia Spencer would lead the first March show; lacking a musical guest to accompany. Now, not only has NBC filled out the March 4 dance card, but so too will Scarlett Johannson make a return appearance the following week.